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HOUSE BILL NO. 337
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY REPRESENTATIVE PRAX
Introduced: 2/17/22
Referred: Health and Social Services, State Affairs, Finance
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
1 "An Act relating to citizen review panels for certain children in state custody;
2 reestablishing the Citizens' Review Panel for Permanency Planning; and providing for
3 an effective date."
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
5 * Section 1. AS 44.66.010(a) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:
6 (14) Citizens' Review Panel for Permanency Planning (AS 47.10.401)
7 - June 30, 2026.
8 * Sec. 2. AS 47.10.080 is amended by adding new subsections to read:
9 (z) Within 60 days after the date the department removes a child from the
10 child's home, the department shall notify the appropriate local citizen out-of-home
11 care review panel established under AS 47.10.421.
12 (aa) Within 60 days after a court orders a child committed to the department
13 under (c) of this section, and at a permanency hearing or review under (f) or (l) of this
14 section, the department shall inform the parties about the local citizen out-of-home
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1 care review panel established under AS 47.10.421.
2 * Sec. 3. AS 47.10.093(b) is amended to read:
3 (b) A state or municipal agency or employee shall disclose appropriate
4 confidential information regarding a case to
5 (1) a guardian ad litem appointed by the court;
6 (2) a person or an agency requested by the department or the child's
7 legal custodian to provide consultation or services for a child who is subject to the
8 jurisdiction of the court under AS 47.10.010 as necessary to enable the provision of
9 the consultation or services;
10 (3) an out-of-home care provider as necessary to enable the out-of-
11 home care provider to provide appropriate care to the child, to protect the safety of the
12 child, and to protect the safety and property of family members and visitors of the out-
13 of-home care provider;
14 (4) a school official as necessary to enable the school to provide
15 appropriate counseling and support services to a child who is the subject of the case, to
16 protect the safety of the child, and to protect the safety of school students and staff;
17 (5) a governmental agency as necessary to obtain that agency's
18 assistance for the department in its investigation or to obtain physical custody of a
19 child;
20 (6) a law enforcement agency of this state or another jurisdiction as
21 necessary for the protection of any child or for actions by that agency to protect the
22 public safety;
23 (7) a member of a multidisciplinary child protection team created
24 under AS 47.14.300 as necessary for the performance of the member's duties;
25 (8) the state medical examiner under AS 12.65 as necessary for the
26 performance of the duties of the state medical examiner;
27 (9) a person who has made a report of harm as required by
28 AS 47.17.020 to inform the person that the investigation was completed and of action
29 taken to protect the child who was the subject of the report;
30 (10) the child support services agency established in AS 25.27.010 as
31 necessary to establish and collect child support for a child who is a child in need of aid
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1 under this chapter;
2 (11) a parent, guardian, or caregiver of a child or an entity responsible
3 for ensuring the safety of children as necessary to protect the safety of a child;
4 (12) a review panel, including a variance committee established under
5 AS 47.05.360, established by the department for the purpose of reviewing the actions
6 taken by the department in a specific case;
7 (13) the University of Alaska under the Alaska higher education
8 savings program for children established under AS 47.14.400, but only to the extent
9 that the information is necessary to support the program and only if the information
10 released is maintained as a confidential record by the University of Alaska;
11 (14) a child placement agency licensed under AS 47.32 as necessary to
12 provide services for a child who is the subject of the case;
13 (15) a state or municipal agency of this state or another jurisdiction
14 that is responsible for delinquent minors, as may be necessary for the administration of
15 services, protection, rehabilitation, or supervision of a child or for actions by the
16 agency to protect the public safety; however, a court may review an objection made to
17 a disclosure under this paragraph; the person objecting to the disclosure bears the
18 burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that disclosure is not in the
19 child's best interest; [AND]
20 (16) a sibling of a child who is the subject of the case to allow the
21 siblings to contact each other if it is in the best interests of the child to maintain
22 contact; in this paragraph, "sibling" means an adult or minor who is related to the child
23 who is the subject of the case by blood, adoption, or marriage as a child of one or both
24 of the parents of the child who is the subject of the case; a sibling who is adopted by a
25 person other than the parent of the child who is the subject of the case remains a
26 sibling of the child; and
27 (17) a local citizen out-of-home care review panel established
28 under AS 47.10.421.
29 * Sec. 4. AS 47.10.142 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
30 (j) Within 60 days after a court orders a child committed to the department
31 under this section, the department shall inform the parties about the local citizen out-
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1 of-home care review panel established under AS 47.10.421.
2 * Sec. 5. AS 47.10 is amended by adding new sections to read:
3 Article 3A. Citizens' Review Panel For Permanency Planning.
4 Sec. 47.10.401. Citizens' Review Panel for Permanency Planning. (a) The
5 Citizens' Review Panel for Permanency Planning is created in the Department of
6 Administration. The state panel consists of five voting members appointed by the
7 governor from among present members of local panels established under
8 AS 47.10.421. The governor shall appoint at least one voting state panel member from
9 each judicial district. The governor may not appoint a person who has committed a
10 felony or violated AS 11.51.130 or a law with substantially similar elements. The state
11 panel also includes the following five nonvoting members, or their designees, who
12 serve ex officio: the commissioner of health and social services, the director of the
13 office of public advocacy, the attorney general, the public defender appointed under
14 AS 18.85.030, and the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.
15 (b) The voting members of the state panel serve at the pleasure of the governor
16 for staggered terms of three years or until successors are appointed.
17 (c) The voting members of the state panel shall elect from among the voting
18 members a chair who shall serve for one year. Three voting members of the state panel
19 constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The state panel may not take
20 official action without the affirmative vote of at least three of its members.
21 (d) Members of the state panel are entitled to reimbursement for actual
22 expenses necessary to perform the duties of state panel members. The reimbursement
23 may not exceed the amount of per diem and expenses authorized for boards and
24 commissions under AS 39.20.180.
25 (e) The state panel shall meet at least twice annually. Meetings may take place
26 electronically.
27 (f) The state panel may employ a program coordinator who shall serve at the
28 pleasure of the state panel. The program coordinator shall employ staff as necessary to
29 carry out the program coordinator's duties under state panel directives and to provide
30 clerical assistance to local panels.
31 Sec. 47.10.411. Duties of state panel. The state panel shall
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1 (1) by regulation, adopt policies and procedures to carry out its duties
2 and to govern the performance of the duties of the local panels established under
3 AS 47.10.421;
4 (2) ensure that local panel members receive at least the minimum level
5 of training necessary to effectively carry out their duties;
6 (3) coordinate and review the activities of the local panels and make
7 recommendations to the governor on appointments to the local panels;
8 (4) report annually to the legislature, by the 10th day of each regular
9 session, concerning the activities of the state panel and local panels during the
10 previous fiscal year; the panel shall submit a written report to the senate secretary and
11 the chief clerk of the house of representatives and notify the legislature that the report
12 is available; the report must include the number of cases reviewed by each local panel,
13 a description of the characteristics of the children whose cases were reviewed by the
14 panels, the number of children reunited with their families, the number of children
15 placed in other permanent homes, and recommendations and justifications for program
16 improvement, including recommendations relating to state agencies and to the panel
17 review system; the report may contain other information on the experience of the local
18 panels.
19 Sec. 47.10.421. Appointment of local panels. (a) The governor shall appoint
20 for each judicial district a local citizen out-of-home care review panel composed of
21 five members and two alternates who are residents of the judicial district. Members
22 shall serve three-year terms. Alternates shall be appointed to three-year terms.
23 Alternates may attend any meeting of the local panel and may review any material
24 reviewed by the local panel.
25 (b) The governor shall appoint to a local panel persons who have training,
26 experience, special knowledge, or a demonstrated interest in the welfare of children.
27 An out-of-home care provider or a person employed by the court system, the
28 department, the office of public advocacy, the Public Defender Agency, or the
29 Department of Law may not serve as a member or alternate member of a local panel.
30 The governor may not appoint a person who has committed a felony or violated
31 AS 11.51.130 or a law with substantially similar elements.
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1 (c) The governor shall ensure that appointments to a local panel are reasonably
2 representative of the various social, economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural groups of the
3 district from which the members are appointed.
4 (d) If the state panel determines that additional local panels are necessary in a
5 judicial district because of excessively large or complex caseloads for review or
6 because of the demographics of cases, or determines that a local panel is not necessary
7 because of a reduced caseload, the governor may create or dissolve a local panel. The
8 governor may not reduce the number of local panels in a judicial district to fewer than
9 one. Appointments to a local panel established under this subsection are governed by
10 (a) - (c) of this section.
11 (e) When a person is appointed to serve on a local panel, the person shall
12 swear or affirm to keep confidential all information that comes before the local panel
13 except for nonidentifying case information included in a report to the state panel, for
14 information for reports required under AS 47.17, or as required by court order for
15 good cause shown. A local panel member may share confidential information with
16 other members of the local panel and staff who serve the local panel.
17 Sec. 47.10.431. Meetings; expenses. (a) A local panel may conduct meetings
18 in person or by electronic means. In-person meetings must be held in the judicial
19 district in which the panel members reside. The chair may permit a member to
20 participate in an in-person meeting by electronic means.
21 (b) A local panel shall elect one of its members to serve as chair for a term of
22 one year.
23 (c) A majority of the members of a local panel constitutes a quorum. A local
24 panel may not take official action without the affirmative vote of at least three of its
25 members.
26 (d) A local panel member is not eligible for travel expenses, per diem, or other
27 expenses for service on the local panel unless the state panel requires a local panel
28 member to travel to attend a meeting. If the state panel requires a local panel member
29 to travel to attend a meeting, the local panel member is entitled to reimbursement for
30 actual expenses incurred by the member in attending the meeting, except that the
31 reimbursement may not exceed the amount of per diem and expenses authorized for
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1 boards and commissions under AS 39.20.180.
2 Sec. 47.10.441. Duties of local panels. (a) A local panel shall review the case
3 plan of each child in the custody of the department who is in a placement other than
4 the child's own home under AS 47.10.080(c)(1) or (3), 47.10.142, or 47.14.100(c) if
5 the case is under the jurisdiction of a court, including a tribal court, in the judicial
6 district served by the panel. A local panel may request a local panel in another judicial
7 district to conduct a review and make a report if that local panel is more convenient
8 for the child and other persons involved.
9 (b) A local panel shall review a case as required under 42 U.S.C. 671 - 679c
10 within 180 days after the day the child is initially removed from the child's home and
11 every six months thereafter. A court review may be substituted for a review required
12 under this subsection if the court review meets the requirements of this subsection.
13 (c) At least 30 days before beginning a review, a local panel shall provide
14 written notice to the following persons that a review will be conducted and that each
15 person notified may participate in the review:
16 (1) the department;
17 (2) the child or the child's legal representative;
18 (3) the child's parents;
19 (4) the child's guardian;
20 (5) the child's guardian ad litem;
21 (6) the child's out-of-home care provider; and
22 (7) if the case is governed by 25 U.S.C. 1901 - 1963 (Indian Child
23 Welfare Act),
24 (A) the child's I